Frontiers in Pharmacology (Feb 2013)
Microeconomic surplus in health care: Applied economic theory in health care in four European countries
Abstract
Introduction: In economic theory economic surplus refers to two related quantities: Consumer and producer surplus. Applying this theory to health care convenience could be one way how consumer benefits might manifest itself. Methods: Various areas of economic surplus were identified and subsequently screened and analysed in Germany, Spain, The Netherlands and the UK: Caesarean births, emergency room visits (nights or weekends), drug availability after test results, and response surplus. A targeted literature search was being conducted to identify the associated costs. Finally the economic surplus (convenience value) was calculated.Results: The economic surplus for different health care areas was being calculated. The highest economic surplus was obtained for the example of response surplus IVF-treatments in The Netherlands.Conclusions: The analyzed examples in this article support the underlying hypothesis for this research: Value of convenience defined as the consumer surplus in health care can be shown in different health care settings. Again, this hypothesis should be accepted as a starting point in this research area and hence further primary research is strongly recommended in order to fully proof this concept.
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